


Returning

by jasperbren



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Reunions, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 08:49:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19390669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasperbren/pseuds/jasperbren
Summary: Leia’s used to Luke wandering off and disappearing for days or even weeks on end. It’s a normal thing, now that the Empire is gone. But then he vanishes for an entire year; longer than he’s ever been gone before. And then, one day, he returns, and of course has bad news.





	Returning

**Author's Note:**

> This short work ties in with another, much longer, inter-fandom work of mine. If y’all want to know the full story, it might take me a while to get chapters of the real thing up, so hang in there!

It’s night the first time Luke comes back.

After the Battle of Endor, everyone knows Luke is prone to wandering off. Always disappearing for days, even weeks on end, always searching for this Jedi artifact or that deadly plot made by the scattered remains of the Empire.

Leia knows he’s taken it upon himself to do whatever he can to keep the peace. 

She wakes that first night, only a week after the destruction of the second Death Star, to noises in the kitchen of hers and Han’s shared apartment on Coruscant. Years of training and war are screaming at her, that there’s a threat to be dealt with. 

So she goes, throwing an armored vest over her nightgown and taking her blaster, slowly creeping down the stairs.

When she finally arrives in the kitchen, expecting burglars or assassins, she stops short. 

Whatever she was expecting, it wasn’t this.

He sits at the table, groggy and exhausted, attempting to eat some oatmeal, but his hand, his flesh hand, is shaking too hard for much of it to actually end up in his mouth. In the dim glow of the safety lights, Leia can see cuts and bruises covering his face, and a large, dark stain on the breastplate of his shoddy, homemade armor. 

It’s undoubtedly blood.

He spots her almost immediately, and flinches. 

“Sorry about the floor,” he mumbles. 

Leia glances down at the muddy footprints leading from the forced-open window to the table. There’s a big one on the counter, right next to the dish rack. Leia makes a mental note to clean it up later. She didn’t notice how Luke is soaking wet and covered in mud.

She wonders where he was.

After a lot of coaxing and pleading, Leia manages to persuade Luke to come to the hospital with her. He’s clearly been hurt badly, from his swaying steps and slightly slurred speech. Leia discovers the dark stain on his chest is a blaster wound, cooled, but bleeding profusely. No wonder he grimaces and whimpers in pain when he tries to walk.

During the ride to the hospital, Luke, only centimeters from sinking into delirium, starts to tell a story. Leia only catches a few details.

Something about combat droids from a war decades past had had their original programming activated by accident and had turned on their masters. He’d gone to the swampy planet where they were and had managed to destroy them all before they destroyed him.

“I got a bag full of credits for my troubles,” Luke babbles almost incoherently. “But what’s money worth when you’re almost dead?”

The doctors try to keep him in the hospital, but as soon as his wounds are healed, he discharges himself. 

He disappears again. 

Leia can only sigh and shake her head.

———

The second time he comes back, it’s two weeks after he left the hospital. 

He isn’t nearly as badly injured this time, but there’s something about his cold, icy silence when he forces open the window during breakfast that unnerves all of them. 

Lando happened to stop by that morning, and he’s startled by Luke’s sudden reappearance. 

Luke looks angry.

Bitter. 

He’s bleeding again, from a gash on his forearm that he’s sewn shut, but it doesn’t seem to bother him too much. He has a new scar, too. A half healed wound on his shoulder, visible through the undershirt he’s wearing. 

He’s shivering, too. Obviously, his scant outfit of a pair of black flight boots, form-fitting black pants, and a torn undershirt means he was somewhere warm. 

Han glances at him, looking like he wants to start a conversation. But he closes his mouth when he sees the sour look on Luke’s face. 

Leia can’t help but wince. 

Whatever he must’ve been doing this time, he obviously doesn’t feel like talking about it.

He still hasn’t told her what it was.

———

This time, Luke stays.

For awhile, anyway. 

A full two weeks pass before he vanishes again, and, surprisingly, he’s back after only four days. He seems happy this time, despite the massive burn on his torso that Leia tries to clean as he rambles excitedly. 

“Bounty hunters, Leia! I met a bunch of them, and we had to watch some loth cats for this empress. Only it wasn’t really a pet-sitting job, and she was forcing us to get rid of a rathtar infestation for her!”

Leia scowles. She doesn’t like her brother getting into such dangerous situations. Then again, he always somehow manages to escape them. 

“How did you get this massive burn then?” She huffs, carefully wrapping bandages around his torso and chest.

Luke grins. 

“One of the rathtars jumped me and threw me against the freighter’s power core. Then one of the loth cats scratched its eyes out before I managed to stab it with my lightsaber. I think the kitties were sad to see me go,” he remarks, examining his fingernails. 

Leia rolls her eyes in dismay. 

———

When Luke disappears this time, he’s gone for a whole month. 

Leia starts to get worried after a week, but Han doesn’t. 

“Don’t worry about him,” he says. “The kid’ll show up eventually. He always does.”

Two hours later, Han proposes to her. 

Leia, laughing at Han’s unsuccessful attempt to seem like he’s planned this for weeks prior, says yes. 

They hold the wedding three weeks later on Naboo, and everything is going smoothly.

But Luke isn’t there. 

Leia can’t help but feel a bit sad. 

Midway through the ceremony, the cathedral doors bang open. A collective gasp rises from the audience, probably expecting objections to the marriage. 

But it’s only Luke, half his body coated in slime and filth, his flight suit torn and covered in dirt, a huge grin on his face, either ignoring or unaware of his bloody nose. His hair is damp and sticking out at all angles. 

“I made it!” He wheezes, limping down the aisle and sitting down heavily in the seat they left open for him. “I am so happy for you guys. Just so you know, I think I might leave the reception early to stop by the hospital.”

There’s a ripple of laughter as the ceremony continues. 

———

To Leia’s surprise, Luke stays much longer this time. He’s still there after they return from their honeymoon, and he doesn’t disappear again until three months later. 

However, he’s gone for a long time.

Longer than ever.

Even Han starts to worry. 

They’re sitting on the balcony of their apartment on Endor when it finally happens. 

“I miss him,” Han murmurs, squeezing her hand. “That kid really has a certain personality that just lights up the room. I really wish that he’d stuck around.”

Leia sighs. 

“Wherever he is now, I hope he’s safe,” she replies, gazing into the distance, at the sunset. 

It’s been almost a year since Luke left.

They sit in silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s company, until Leia suddenly senses a presence behind them. 

A presence she hasn’t felt in a long time.

They turn, and there he is, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Sorry for being gone for so long.”

“Luke!” Leia gasps, and does a double take. He looks different. Much different than he does normally after returning from one of his excursions. 

The first thing Leia notices is Luke’s new outfit. The shiny white plating is high-quality stuff, and it looks almost like an armored space suit. There’s a strange black vee-shape in the middle of his breastplate. 

The rest of him looks slightly off at first. He’s got a new scar, Leia notices. It’s shockingly large, a big stripe of burn tissue seared into his cheek. Almost like a sword blow. Given that he isn’t wearing gloves, Leia can see his scarred palm and fingers on his flesh hand, and the synth-flesh on his prosthetic is gone, revealing the metal underneath. His smile seems almost forced, the way his lips tug into a faded grin that seems more like a voluntary action than a reflex. His golden-blonde hair, a bit longer than before, seems to have faded a bit, more blonde than gold now. 

Just like his eyes. 

Once a pure ocean blue, they seem to have faded to more of a gunmetal blueish-grey. There’s a kind of deep, bitter, fractured sadness and fury behind them that Leia can’t imagine where it came from. 

Leia winces. 

He’s changed. 

“Luke, where have you been?” Han blurts, breaking the silence. “You got all of us worried sick! It’s been a year since we’ve seen you! Are you okay?”

Luke chuckles grimly. 

“Wish I was,” he says. “I know it’s been a while, but I had to come home at least once before I inevitably get killed or maimed by one of the undead murderers who’re trying to destroy the universe.”

There’s an awkward pause. 

Luke sighs. “I’ll explain later,” he says. “But I really want to see you guys again. With everything that’s been happening, I’m afraid that I might not be around much longer, so I have to make the best of what I have. Anyway, how’re things here?”

Leia stares at him. “Could you at least tell us what’s happening?” She demands. She doesn’t know why Luke is acting so strangely, but she wants to know. 

She wants to help, if she can.

Luke sighs, walking up to lean on the balcony between her and Han, gazing off at the horizon. 

Leia can’t help but feel a twinge of sorrow. Luke seems older. More mature. Like the fire inside him, his warm, happy glow, is fizzling out. It’s depressing to look at. 

“I’ve been far away from here,” he muses. “In the future, with a handful of mentally damaged individuals, trying to stop some dead people with serious grudges against the living from destroying reality as we know it. Those people; the Feli call them the Dakthra Valdi Gthractka. The Dark Forest Warriors. They’ve used every dirty trick, every manipulation technique, even attacking hospitals. They’re ruthless, and they won’t stop ‘till they’ve destroyed us, or we destroy them. It’s been really bad out there.” 

He stops, taking a shaky breath, trying to compose himself. 

Leia glances at Han, horror bubbling up inside her. Han seems to be just as unnerved and frightened as she is. 

“So many good people have suffered and died,” Luke continues, his voice weary and shaking. “Shiro lost his arm, Lance lost his entire family, Hawkfrost got disowned, Lukas lost his former lover, Hollyleaf lost her life, and… Petra, one of the best people I have ever known, lost her mind.”

“Who’s Petra?” Leia asks. 

Luke chuckles sadly. “Petra’s my best friend back there,” he says. “A real spitfire. Can take on a whole battalion without flinching. She’s a reckless asshole with no common sense. A scoundrel, just like Han. You’d like her, Leia.” 

Leia laughs, and Han scowls.

“Petra’s lost more than any of us,” Luke continues. “Before we met, she went through a lot. Abandonment, terminal illness, lots of stuff. But when the Great War started, she lost so much. Her friends, her girlfriend, her arm, and then her sanity. Just recently she went completely nuts and tried to kill everybody, thanks to one of the evil dead people. Her buddy Lukas brought her back a few days ago, and she’s still locked in a cell. Jesse’s checked on her, and he says she hasn’t been getting any better. Meanwhile, we’re losing ground, and she was one of our best strategists and generals. Not afraid to get her hands dirty, good at improvising, and always down for a fight. Badass with a sword, too. I admire those qualities,” Luke says, chuckling sadly. “They’re some of her more redeeming ones.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a thing for her,” Han teases. 

Leia fights the urge to laugh, and Luke just rolls his eyes, murmuring something in an alien language Leia can’t identify. 

Of course Han doesn’t know, Leia thinks to herself. With his nonobservance, Luke could practically wear a sign around his neck announcing the crush that he had on Han without him noticing at all. 

“Shit, I forgot to tell you,” Luke grumbles. “I thought you knew, but apparently you don’t. And I guess you’re gonna realize real quick.” Luke pulled a radio off his belt. “Black Lion to White Lion,” he said. “I got the Vulture to not eat me. You can come out here now.”

“Vulture?” Leia says, feeling insulted yet amused. “You’re calling me Vulture?” 

Luke winces. “What?” He says. “I thought you were gonna kill me when I showed up!”

Leia rolls her eyes. “Luke, vultures don’t kill. They’re scavengers.”

Then a man walks through the doors. 

Leia pauses. 

She can’t help but stare. She has no idea who this man is, but he’s definitely attractive. 

He’s tall, taller than Han, and certainly muscular, and his hair is snow-white. Not just the hair on his head, but his eyebrows and the faint stubble on his chin, too. There’s a scar across the bridge of his nose, and for some reason he’s wearing winged eyeliner. 

Really good eyeliner, too. Leia has to admit, it’s flawlessly done. She’d kill to have such a steady hand. 

He’s wearing white armor, similar to Luke’s, but his shoulder pauldrons are silvery-white, not black, as is the vee-shape on his chest. He looks fairly nervous. 

“Hi,” he says quietly. “I’m General Takashi Shirogane, Paladin of the White Lion. Everybody just calls me Shiro.”

Leia notices the smile that spreads across Luke’s face, some of the old light returning to his eyes. He looks the happiest since he showed up here. 

“Guys, this is my boyfriend,” he says. 

There’s another awkward pause, and Leia watches the stunned look spread across Han’s face. 

“He’s one of the few individuals who bring me joy these days,” Luke says. “We’ve been through a lot together, even a thermonuclear explosion that I created and subsequently destroyed an entire island with.”

Leia whistles. “Sounds fun,” she remarks. “Also, you managed to pick up him? You’re braver than I thought.” 

“Hold on,” Han blurts, sounding flustered and incredibly confused. “Can you rewind to the boyfriend part?”

“So this is Leia?” Shiro asks, cocking his head to one side. Luke nods. “My sister,” he replies. “That’s Han, her husband.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Shiro says, offering a hand. Leia smiles, shaking it, meeting his eyes. She quickly shoots him a warning glare. 

Shiro’s smile falters, fear flashing through his gaze as he catches the meaning: You break my brother’s heart, I break your neck.

Han’s eyes dart back and forth between them. “He’s your boyfriend?” He yelps. “But that means… stars, now that I think about it, it was really obvious! How did I not realize this?”

“Well,” Shiro says, “To quote Luke, when he first told me about you guys, ‘Han is an oblivious little shit.’”

Leia can’t help it. She bursts out laughing. Han, however, goes red in the face and looks incredibly embarrassed. Luke lets out a heavy sigh. “You shut up,” he grumbles. 

“Sorry,” Shiro adds, grinning. “Luke’s a little cranky because he got a building thrown on him a few days ago, after he tried to take on the leader of a massive undead army with nothing but pure spite and a length of metal pipe.”

Han raises his eyebrows. “Why am I not surprised by that?” He grumbles. 

Leia snorts. She’s used to people talking about how reckless Luke is. In recent years, he’d been getting better at not rushing headlong into fights, but it seemed like he was falling back on his old pattern of acting first and thinking later. 

She suddenly picks up a hint of frustration coming from Luke, edged with fear and anger, but it isn’t because of Shiro’s lighthearted jab. 

He’s hiding something. 

Leia clears her throat. “Luke, why are you two actually here?” She asks, and Luke mutters a curse under his breath. 

“I forgot you could do that,” he grumbles.

“Well, like he must’ve said,” Shiro says, obviously trying to keep his tone light as possible. “We’re losing the game, and our best player is on the bench. We didn’t just drop in for a quick chit-chat.”

“He’s right,” Luke adds, a sense of urgency sinking into his tone. “The fate of the universe is at stake here, and we’re low on allies at the moment.”

Leia glances at Han, who shrugs. 

Luke sighs in frustration. “Okay, I’m just gonna give it to you straight,” he says. 

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I need your help.”


End file.
